X Hunt
by hokkyokukou
Summary: Vongola is no longer led by the kind Tsuna everyone knew, because Tsuna is dead, killed by the people he held dearest to him. Now, the guardians have killed too many people to count; the Arcobalenos have gone into hiding; contact with any friend must be done in secret. Shouichi and Spanner aim to find the truth, but they are caught by the "new" boss... Can Vongola be saved?
1. Chapter 1

"Oh, Yamamoto-san, you're back?"

With a sharp bang and a loud "OW!", Spanner emerged from underneath one of the robots he was working on. His lollipop dropped out of his mouth, and he promptly slipped on it and fell. Looking a bit morose, he picked up the now-dirty lollipop lying on the floor.

"Yeah," Yamamoto said, punching in the code to enter Vongola headquarters.

"How was it? Need anything?"

"It was worse than usual," Yamamoto said quietly. "Do you mind if I… stay a bit? Just to… calm down…"

The elevator doors were opening. Spanner leaped up and hastily cleared random gadgets and gears off the nearest chair and motioned.

"Of course! I'll make some tea."

Yamamoto chuckled. "Thanks."

He sat down, kicking his shoes off and pulling his legs to his chest as Spanner busied himself with making his favorite tea.

"I love how we have to travel through your place now in order to get to the underground headquarters," Yamamoto said as Spanner brought him his tea. "It's so… calming."

"You think so?" Spanner said, scratching his cheek. "Just the other day Gokudera-san said it was a bother after he slipped on a nail and banged his head against Mosca."

Yamamoto laughed. "He would. Don't take him too seriously, though, Spanner."

"It's inconvenient for me," Spanner sighed. He sat down on the armrest of the chair, sipping his own cup of tea. "Whenever someone tries to break in—which is always—I have to stop work and start up a Mosca and blow him to hell."

"Mm," Yamamoto said. "Well, it's what boss wants… so…"

At the mention of 'boss,' what little light the tea and Spanner's presence had brought to Yamamoto's eyes suddenly dimmed.

"How was work?" Spanner asked, returning to his first question. He settled a comforting hand on Yamamoto's shoulders, despite the fact that he knew it wouldn't do much for the eighteen-year-old boy.

"It was… another assassination," Yamamoto said quietly. He turned his teacup in his hands, staring unseeingly at his reflection. "I just got back… sorry for tracking blood everywhere."

"Used to it. Built a cleaning robot just for stuff like that. I based it off a movie I recently watched—Wall-e. Isn't it cute? Of course, it doesn't just clean. If it finds anything that's not supposed to belong, it runs the material through the database to check it out. I'm still working on it, since every so often it goes into boss' office and labels everything as an unidentified substance…"

The two of them sat silently together as they watched the small robot scrub diligently at the blood Yamamoto had left on the floor.

"He screamed a lot," Yamamoto suddenly said. Spanner's eyes slid to the side, watching what little he could see of Yamamoto's face. Yamamoto's shoulders were shaking, his head bowed. Spanner squeezed Yamamoto's shoulder.

"I didn't… I couldn't get him with the first strike. I-I try so hard every time I have to assassinate someone to get them with the first strike, but this guy—he saw it coming. I… I came behind him, but he sensed me, and at the last second, he turned and jumped away. And I… I ended up… slicing his arm off, and cutting his side almost halfway through… there was so much blood, and he was screaming so much that I couldn't do anything…"

Spanner closed his eyes so that he wouldn't have to see tears dropping into Yamamoto's teacup.

"And I stared at him, and he stared at me and he asked me to spare him because it was his daughter's birthday… But I couldn't… I told him that and he started crying… he told me to just kill him, then… but I couldn't… I couldn't move, and then like that, he just… from blood loss, he just died…"

Spanner was silent. What could he say to that?

"It's not your fault, Yamamoto-san," Spanner finally said. "There was nothing else you could have done. You're still new to this."

"I'm not new to it anymore!" Yamamoto grated out. The teacup shattered in his hands, cutting deep into the flesh. "I'm not new to it anymore. It's been… exactly half a year since… since we killed… since we killed him… Since that fake Tsunayoshi came to power…"

Spanner's eyes flickered to his calendar. Exactly half a year? He saw that it was. April 10, 20XX. Sawada Tsunayoshi's half-birthday.

Six months after he had been killed by his most beloved guardians.

"If it's half a year, then it's time for that," Spanner said quietly. "Yamamoto-san, you should hurry and report to boss before he gets angry. Your father—"

"I _know_ about my father," Yamamoto said harshly. He let out a shaky breath. "Sorry, Spanner. I didn't mean to—"

"I understand. But, go ahead and report. Everyone else has already come back. Byakuran even finished all his assignments early. I'll contact Shouichi, and he'll probably be able to let us get out for a while. Okay? Try not to think about earlier too much."

Yamamoto laughed hollowly. "Alright, Spanner. Thank you. I feel… much better, really, I do. Thanks for the tea, and… sorry for the cup. I'll see you in a bit, then."

When Yamamoto had left, Spanner sighed and sank to the floor. Moodily, he twirled a lollipop in between his fingers.

"Young Vongola, if you were here…" Spanner murmured.

A squeaking noise caught his attention. One of his robotic mice had come forward, nudging him frantically with its nose.

"What's wrong—"

"VOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIII! LET ME IN, DAMN IT!"

"Oh my," Spanner breathed, getting to his feet in a hurry. He stuck his lollipop in his mouth and rushed over to the entrance, putting his thumb in the fingerprint scanner to open the door.

"Vooii, took you long enough, you robot freak," Squalo said, stalking inside. He took a quick look around.

"It's fine. I've uninstalled or overwritten every single recording device in this room. Not a single one has gone untouched."

"You positive?" Squalo growled.

"I swear on my mechanic's will."

"Voii, you had better not be wrong. If I'm caught here now, it won't be good."

"If you wait a moment, I can call Shouichi, and he'll get us some time for later," Spanner said.

"I thought all the lines were being tapped and recorded."

"You forget who I am," Spanner said, smiling a little. "Shouichi and I worked our way around that system a while ago."

"Voii, share it, then" Squalo said heatedly. "I haven't been able to contact Bucking Horse because of it. The last time I did, I was caught and thrown into the torture rooms—no big deal, but it was a pain in the NECK TO ACT LIKE I WAS IN PAIN, _VOII_!"

"Calm down, calm down," Spanner said hastily. "The new policies are a hassle, but please, don't mess up my robots because you're angry."

Breathing heavily, Squalo stopped brandishing his sword and sat down on a clean chair. "Sorry."

Spanner sighed. He snapped his fingers and a small mouse ran up his leg and into his hand. Upon the press of a nearly invisible button on its tail, its back popped open, revealing a keypad into which Spanner typed in a code.

"How did you get here, even?"

"Voii, it wasn't easy," Squalo snarled. "I managed to get a hold of Mammon earlier, and we set things up. Only I could come though. Taking all of them here would be too risky, even for us."

Spanner nodded. His face lit up. "Oh! I got connection. Shouichi, are you there? Shouichi?"

A crackle of static buzzed out of the mouse, followed by Irie's tired voice. "Oh… Spanner, what's up? Need something?"

"You know what today is, right?"

"Today… Today? What!? It's already today? Damn, I completely lost track of time. Boss is working me to the bone, so I barely have time to go to even the bathroom these days. You want me to talk to him for you?"

"For all of us," Spanner said. Squalo grunted. "And the Varia."

"Wha—was that Squalo making that funny noise just then?"

"WHAT FUNNY NOISE, VOII!" Squalo roared, slashing at the mouse with his sword.

"H-hey! Don't destroy this! Do you know how much time it took to make this?" Spanner said, falling over. "A-anyways, yes, Squalo's here."

"What the heck?! Do you know how dangerous that is?!" Shouichi yelled. Spanner blinked.

"Shouichi, bad temper."

A long grumble came from the mouse wireless. "Alright, I got it. So long as Squalo isn't caught, then it's okay. Spanner—put Squalo into one of the Moscas if anyone comes in, okay?"

"Got it."

"And Squalo, please don't scream."

"VOII, WHO'S SCREAMING? THIS IS MY NORMAL VOICE, DAMN IT!"

"People will _hear_ you," Shouichi said exasperatedly. You're lucky I'm by myself right now, else we'd all be in major trouble. Okay, I've got to get back to work. I'll talk to boss in about… fifteen minutes. I'll give you a call later, okay Spanner?"

"Roger."

"And Squalo… any news…?"

"I'll tell you in person," Squalo growled. "I don't trust you two's technology anyways."

"I'm insulted," Spanner said.

"Then be insulted," Squalo flung back. "Are you positive that guy will give us time off?"

"I'm very sure. He won't want us to… forget."

"Alright. End the call now, I think someone's coming," Spanner said. The back of the mouse snapped shut and the robot scampered away. "Come on, Squalo-san. You have to get in here."

"I HAVE TO W—mmph!"

One of Spanner's Strau Moscas grabbed Squalo by the head and shoved the man into its companion robot.

Spanner grabbed a couple of wrenches and dove under the nearest robot, making as much noise as possible so as to cover up Squalo's furious banging.

The elevator doors slid open, and Squalo shut up. Spanner continued to clang around, pretending not to have heard anything.

His eyes slid to the side, giving him a full view of the floor. The elevator doors were closed now, and in front of them were a pair of sandals, just barely visible under the hem of a yukata.

Spanner sighed in relief. He poked his head out from under Mosca.

"Kawahira-san, is that you?"

The man smiled down at Spanner. "I was wondering where you had gone. By the way, have you recently acquired a robot that makes a noise like an angry elephant?"

Spanner blinked. "Oh, no, that was Squalo."

A muffled yell that sounded an awful lot like "WHO'S A FREAKING ANGRY ELEPHANT" erupted from a Gola Mosca.

"Well, tell him to tone it down a little. I could hear it from the floor below. Luckily, no one's in there, but, you never know…"

"How's I-Pin-san doing?" Spanner said.

"I-Pin is working hard," Kawahira sighed. "She keeps telling her old master that she's studying for university, but really, she's learning from me. Things aren't going very well. I think _he_ might be onto us. We might have to make a run for it sooner or later."

Spanner nodded. "I'll let you know if Shouichi says anything about it."

"Thank you. Now, I really should go."

"Will you be coming tonight?"

Kawahira blinked. "Is it that time already? No, I won't be. I promised to meet up with that child tonight. I-Pin should be going, though."

Spanner nodded. "Take care, Kawahira-san."

"You, too, Spanner. And by the way, when you get the chance, tell Irie-kun to look in the top left bookshelf of the West Wall of the library, will you?"

And with that, Kawahira left. Spanner rubbed his head, sticking his lower lip out.

"I'm gonna get caught and die one of these days," he sighed. "Well, there's nothing for it. Ouch!"

The communication mouse was biting hard on his ankle.

"What's with you? Oh, Shouichi's calling. Hello?"

"Spanner, this is bad," Irie's voice came out in a panicked whisper. "Spanner, can you hear me?"

Spanner frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Suna—I think he's onto something—onto you. I went and asked him to let us off for the rest of the day and he kept on making these odd comments about you. He's coming down now to inspect the place—I think you have about three minutes before he gets there. You need to get Squalo out of there, and fast!"

The front doors were clicking—someone was coming in. Spanner darted behind Strau Mosca and breathed, "I can't. Someone—no, the Cervello are coming in through the front. I've gotta hang up, Shouichi—wish me luck."

"I'll send Gokudera down there," Shouichi breathed rapidly. "Stay safe."

"Spanner. Spanner, where are you?"

"A-ah, Cervello, what brings you here?" Spanner said. He stepped out from behind the Mosca. "I was just doing a bit of maintenance."

"Have you heard anything strange lately?" the woman asked. "From your friends, conversations…"

"Nothing of importance," Spanner said thoughtfully. He chewed on his lollipop for a moment. "Ah, Lambo-san commented on his abnormally large fecal matter the other day; thinks it might be due to eating rotten grape candy."

Cervello did not smile. "Remember, Spanner, we are counting on you to report any misdeeds done by the members of Vongola. Otherwise…"

"I know, I know," Spanner sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Otherwise everyone I've ever cared about will die."

"Correct. If there is nothing you need to report, I shall be going, then. Oh, Suna-sama, good afternoon."

Spanner turned. His breath caught in his throat. No matter how many times he saw that man—Suna—he could never get used to it.

An exact replica of Sawada Tsunayoshi stood before him, wearing the angelic smile Spanner remembered too well.

"Spanner-san!" Tsuna—no, Suna!—said. "It's been a while. How are you?"

"Ah, Ts—I mean, Suna-sama," Spanner said, bowing humbly. "I'm alright. W-what brings you here?"

"I just wanted to catch up with you," Suna said. Spanner could feel his heart constricting. Suna sounded far too much like Tsuna. If he closed his eyes, he could just imagine that kind Tsuna was back again, simply talking to him over a cup of tea…

"Yiiii! The Strau Mosca looks scarier than ever."

_Even talks like him_.

"Gokudera-kun hasn't been coming around lately," Tsuna—Spanner shook his head—Suna said. "I'm getting a little worried. Do you know why?"

"I think…" Spanner said slowly to give himself time to think up a response. "I accidentally gave him one of my lollipops that Mosca dipped in oil—he didn't feel too well after that."

"Oh, I see," Suna said. "By the way, could I…?"

"Help yourself," Spanner said hastily. He gave Tsuna—Suna one of his handmade lollipops. Suna gave Spanner an infectious smile and popped it into his mouth.

"Thanks, Spanner-san. This really takes me back."

_Takes you back to when? You fake!_

"What's this? It's so cute!"

"A-ah, that is…"

Spanner began to sweat. Suna was holding his communication mouse, the only connection he had to Irie at the moment. Suna ran his hands over the small, motionless mouse, eyes unnervingly sharp.

_Don't… find the button. Don't find the button._

"Can I have this?"

"Ah, that… No, I…"

"Thanks, Spanner-san," Suna said. He pocketed the mouse. "I'll be going now."

_Shit!_

Spanner watched helplessly as Suna made his way back to the elevator.

"By the way, Spanner-san," Suna said as the elevator doors opened. "That Gola Mosca over there—it's giving off a little too much heat to be _simply_ robotic, don't you think?"

Spanner forced himself to look casually at the Gola Mosca Suna was pointing at. Damn the man. Squalo was inside. If Suna asked Spanner to open it up, it would be the end.

"That… I ran it a couple hours ago. The thrusters weren't working properly," Spanner lied through his teeth.

_Buy it… buy it…_

"Hmm… well, be careful. There are a lot of rumors going around about you."

Spanner was too frozen by fear to even swallow.

"And we managed to track down your sister. We're keeping an eye on her, just to make sure that no one… _attacks_ her, if you know what I mean. Not that there would be any reason for that to happen, right?"

_The bastard._

"Of course not, Suna-sama."

"And one more thing. Shouichi-kun asked if I could give you all the day off… but after some consideration, I turned it down. Maybe in a few days… Maybe not. I feel so offended, you know?" Suna said sadly. Spanner was shaken. If he didn't know better, he would have believed that it was Tsuna standing there with a sad smile on his face, looking at him with gentle, brown eyes.

"You all keep on visiting that fake's grave… even though I'm the real Sawada Sunayoshi."

Spanner didn't breathe. He was torn between immense hatred and utter confusion. How could he hate someone who looked exactly like one of his best friends…?

"But, since I love my family," Suna said, "I'll let you guys go tomorrow evening. But, Spanner, you have to promise me something. Don't leave this room, alright? Or else, I'll be really angry. That's it. Nice seeing you again."

With another smile and a wave, Suna disappeared into the elevator and was gone. Spanner stood still, body drenched in sweat and shaking from head to toe.

Shivering, he opened Gola Mosca. Squalo was staring up at him with a look that was almost one of fear.

"We're screwed, aren't we, Spanner," he said, using Spanner's name for once. "We're really, really screwed."

"He took my communication device," Spanner said in a shaky voice. His blue eyes were still wide with fear. "Shouichi's going to get caught in a matter of seconds. As soon as boss is back in his office, Shouichi's going to call me to make sure everything's alright."

"Isn't there some way you can deactivate it?"

Spanner shook his head. "No. Though, it's been set up to detonate if the incorrect code has been entered."

"We'll have to weigh our hopes on that, then," Squalo snarled. "Blow that man apart for good."

"He won't try. He knows me too well. Squalo, you have to get out of here while you can."

"What'd you say?" Squalo snarled. "You're telling me to leave you behind?"

"I can… I…"

"You can't do _anything_. None of us can. At least, together you and I can try to storm the place and get Irie out of here."

Squalo clambered out of Mosca and dropped to the floor.

"Shouichi's on the top floor of the above-ground headquarters," Spanner said, turning pale. "There's no way we can get up there alive. Besides that, they found my sister…"

"I heard," Squalo said heavily. "Never thought a weirdo like you would have one, though. Say," Squalo said suddenly. "Where is Irie's office anyway?"

"The very top corner between East and West Wall. A two window office," Spanner said, thinking rapidly. His eyes widened. "You're not thinking…"

"Exactly what I'm thinking," Squalo said, grinning wildly. "What do you say to getting a little shot at, huh robot-freak?"

Spanner straightened up, readjusted the lollipop in his mouth, and walked to the leftmost wall.

"It's been a while since I've used this guy," Spanner said fondly, pulling a lever. The wall began rumbling, then lifted slowly. "Not since Young Vongola needed some training."

"Is there enough room for three?"

"Yes," Spanner said. "It'll be a tight squeeze, but it should be alright."

Squalo snorted. "Every time I see it, it just gets uglier."

Spanner stepped forward, a nostalgic smile playing on his lips as he patted the robot's side. "It's been a while…

"King Mosca."

* * *

Irie hurried down the hallway back to his office. He had just checked to make sure Suna was back in his room. He pulled a robotic mouse out of the inside of his uniform and quickly typed in a code.

He locked his office to be sure no one would walk in on him. There was a click. The call had been answered.

"Spanner—Spanner, are you alright? Spanner?"

Had something happened? Spanner wasn't answering. Sweat broke out on Irie's face and his glasses slipped on his nose.

"Spanner! Can you hear me? It's me, Irie!"

"Oh, I can hear you perfectly fine, Irie-kun."

Irie's heart stopped in his chest. This voice… was Suna's.

"Shit—"

Irie cut the call, but it was too late. There was nowhere to escape. The building was six stories high; he couldn't jump. To get out of his office and down the stairs meant that he had to pass Suna's room.

Trapped.

His breath was becoming shorter and shorter. He could hear footsteps just outside his door. Someone knocked on the wood.

"Irie-kun? Are you there?"

_"Shit_."

The doorknob rattled. A low chuckle permeated the room. Irie could barely breathe. His hand scrabbled in the drawer of his desk, pulling out a handgun that he knew would be useless against Suna.

A bullet grazed his side. Suna had shot the lock. Hands shaking violently, Irie pointed the gun at the door, and he gritted his teeth hard.

The door swung open. Irie had one good look at the angelic smile on the face that should have belonged only to Sawada Tsunayoshi before the windows behind him blew apart, shooting broken glass in all directions.

* * *

_Hope it was alright! Sorry for grammar mistakes/oocness/etc. Neither Wall-e nor KHR are mine! _

_Reviews are much appreciated~_


	2. Chapter 2

**_ Note_**_: Thanks, __Metue__, for asking this XD Tsuna and Suna are both pronounced very similarly. Tsuna has a hard "TSU" sound at the beginning, whereas Suna is a softer "SU"_

___Edit: (an hour after posting this chapter lol) since a couple people have mentioned it, no, Suna did not threaten the guardians into killing Tsuna LOL. I don't think that could ever happen. Ever. It's something else~ And Hibari has entered the first scene of the next chapter! I wonder what has happened to him..._

_WARNING: Boring escape scene in the beginning... sorry X(_

* * *

"Shouichi! Get on, quick!"

Irie groaned, picking himself off the glass-littered floor. Part of that glass must have belonged to his glasses—he could no longer see clearly.

"That voice… Spanner…?"

"That snotty nosed brat is so damn slow, voii! Just grab him and let's get out of here before that guy wakes up!"

Irie squinted, finally realizing what situation he was in. He stared hard at the window, managing to make out an enormous shadow that could only be King Mosca. He scrambled to his feet and leaped for the window.

"You're not getting away!"

A flaming bullet streaked past Irie's face, causing him to shriek.

"Shouichi, jump!" Spanner called out.

Blindly, putting his life into the hands of his comrades, Shouichi threw himself out the window. For a moment, he thought he was going to die; he plummeted to the ground as above him, startled cries rang out into the air when numerous bullets crashed against King Mosca. But it wasn't enough to bring Mosca down.

Irie's stomach left him momentarily as he was snatched out of the air.

"Whoops, almost lost you there. Let's get out of here before Suna gets serious."

Spanner put Mosca on full throttle, smiling a little when he heard Irie's shrieks of "SLOW DOWN!" and "I'M GOING TO DIE!"

Suddenly, Mosca gave a great shudder. Shrapnel shot into the air, and Mosca's left leg jerked uncontrollably, thruster smoking.

"Shit, he hit us!"

"Have to get to lower grounds," Spanner muttered, fingers flying across his keyboard. His eyes widened.

"Voii, he's flying after us!" Squalo yelled. Spanner winced.

"Thank you for pointing it out, but I noticed that approximately 3.78 seconds before you did. Now, please, can you refrain from yelling my eardrums out? I need to concentrate."

Mosca swept low across the treetops, still managing to fly on three thrusters. Spanner felt immensely sorry for Irie, who had suddenly gone quiet. Spanner hoped his poor friend had simply fainted and would be spared from the terrifying experience to come.

"Target lock-on…" Spanner muttered. "Distance: 0.75 kilometer. Alright, shoot, Mosca."

Homing missiles blasted out of King Mosca's back. Spanner immediately used the momentum provided by the missiles to speed up even more, hoping Irie would be able to stand the force of the headwind.

"Voii, isn't there any way to get Irie inside?" Squalo asked.

"Not if you want to stop and let Suna catch up with us," Spanner said absently. Lights danced in his eyes as Mosca's screen displayed the current status of the situation: Target Distance 0.60 kilometer… 0.55 kilometer…

"He's speeding up," Spanner said, frowning. "I can't go any faster or Irie might not make it."

"Useless piece of junk!" Squalo roared. Spanner dearly hoped that the swordsman wouldn't decide to go on a rampage inside the machine.

"Please calm down, Squalo-san," Spanner mumbled. He was beginning to break out into a sweat. Target Distance: 0.42 kilometer. Spanner fired again. Of course, he didn't even dare to hope that the missiles would hit, but at least they would slow Suna down a bit.

Target Distance: 0.43 kilometer.

"Bastard's like a fly," Squalo snarled. "How are we gonna lose him?"

"With this," Spanner said. He hit an indigo button, watching in satisfaction as an indigo bar popped up on Mosca's screen. 5% charged… "Excellent. I was waiting for this moment."

"What's that do?"

35% charged. "It's faster than I expected. It's the first time using these mist flames, though."

"Mist?"

Spanner nodded, eyes fixed on the screen. Suna was 0.35 kilometer away, and the charging was 52% complete. They should make it, with luck.

"I got Kawahira-san to put some of his flames into Mosca every time he returned to the base," Spanner said. "Thank goodness it worked. In a few moments, we should be able to hide ourselves with a top-notch illusion that would be on par with Kawahira-san's own illusions."

"Well, tell it to hurry the hell up!" Squalo roared.

"I'm trying, I'm trying! Please, calm down!"

79% charged, and Suna was only 0.20 kilometer away. Spanner hit the missile button twice, hoping to gain time. At this rate, Suna would come close enough to be able to hit them before they could use the illusion.

"C'mon, Mosca, you can do it…"

Mosca began rattling violently, throwing its occupants around in its fit.

"Voi, what's happening?!" Squalo yelled.

"Over-heating," Spanner explained. "It's harder on Mosca to move on three thrusters. We've been moving too quickly for too long. It'll be bad if this continues… but we're in luck; seems like Mosca just finished charging."

Without hesitation, Spanner pressed on the button delicately, growing excited despite himself…

**ERRORE: [COMBUSTIBILE INSUFFICIENTE]**

"Shoot!" Spanner cursed. "Not enough flame!"

"WHAT," Squalo roared. "DAMN MACHINE, WORK! SCREW YOU!"

Squalo slammed his fist down on the button he thought Spanner had pressed, managing to put a large dent in the keyboard.

"Squalo, no!" Spanner yelped. "Wrong button!"

Mosca's engine suddenly lost velocity. The lights flickered on and off inside the machine, and a terrible rattling started up.

"What's going on?"

"That was the switch to cut off the power in emergencies!"

"Aw, crap…"

"Parachutes, parachutes," Spanner muttered, running his fingers over the buttons. "Why aren't the parachutes working—oh, that's right, I took them out for repairs."

"VOII, ARE YOU STUPID OR WHAT? AND HOW THE HELL CAN YOU TALK SO CALMLY YOU ROBOT FREAK; IT'S LIKE YOU'RE HAVING FUN OR SOMETHING."

Mosca was plummeting to the ground at a high speed. Spanner peeked out a small window to check that Irie was still in Mosca's hands, sighing in relief when he saw him.

"Why can't you just turn the power back on?"

"Please be quiet, Squalo-san. And, please, refrain from touching anything else."

Seeing his friend's life teetering on edge seemed to have sent calmness into Spanner's mind. Blue eyes sharp with concentration, Spanner sent his fingers flying over the keyboard. The lights kicked back on in Mosca, and a dull hum vibrated in the air.

"Should work now… Squalo, please take a look out the opening to your side and tell me what you see."

"I see trees."

"And?"

"More trees."

"I'm talking about Mosca," Spanner said, biting back his exasperation.

"Oh. I see an arm."

Spanner pressed the indigo button. There was a noise like a flame popping out of existence and Squalo exclaimed.

"It disappeared!"

"Good, it's working," Spanner said proudly. "Now to start the engines up again…"

Mosca jerked and made an awkward maneuver in mid air, almost throwing Squalo into its side wall.

"Voi, what the hell are you doing? Why are we going backwards?"

"Don't you like to have a little excitement in your life, Squalo-san?" Spanner said, face lighting up. "I just want to see the best of the best. If Mosca goes unnoticed, I'll know I've really done well this time. If we get caught and destroyed, well…"

"VOII, I AM NOT HERE TO BE YOUR GUINEA PIG!" Squalo screeched. "IF WE DIE, I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"

Target distance: 0.09 kilometer. Unbeknownst to the mechanic, a smile was playing on his lips. 0.08… 0.07… 0.04… 0.02…

"And now… is the moment of truth."

Suna was right in front of them. In a split second, they passed each other. They were so close that Squalo could see the angry expression on Suna's face and the black gloves he wore.

"And… target distance is 0.25 kilometer and quickly increasing. We did it, Squalo," Spanner said, popping open a new lollipop. "Celebrate?"

Squalo let out a huge breath of air he hadn't known he was holding. "I'm going to _kill_ you," he said, grinning maniacally. "You crazy robot-freak."

Spanner smiled back. Squalo took the wrench-shaped lollipop and stuck it in his mouth, thinking all the while that if he ever had children (and he wasn't ever going to), he would sure have a hell of a lot of stories to tell them.

"I thought you said that there wasn't enough fuel," Squalo said after he managed to crunch his lollipop out of existence.

"There wasn't," Spanner admitted. "In addition to hiding its body, Mosca also erases all traces of where it's been; in other words, it gets rid of fume trails and heat waves. When Mosca's velocity increases, the engine has to work harder and it generates more waste products. More flames are needed to hide this sort of travel, and it's even worse since one of the thrusters isn't working. I guess it was lucky you hit that button, Squalo-san, otherwise we'd have been toast."

"So you're saying that because we're moving slower, we need less flame to hide ourselves?"

Spanner nodded. "Exactly. Less energy expenditure means less carbon dioxide and heat production, which ultimately means conservation of flame energy. We can't move too quickly now, not until Suna is off Mosca's radar. Until then, we might as well stop and pull Irie on board—but we have to find some open space. Otherwise, Mosca's mist flames will be completely sapped when it tries to hide the disruption of the trees. Ideally, the landing site should be concrete or asphalt, but we can't be choosy now."

Squalo managed to scout out a suitable location. Mosca landed, and the two of them brought Irie into the machine. By some stroke of luck, the boy wasn't dead, although he babbled giddily nonstop for the majority of the trip to the Varia headquarters. The journey went without a glitch, and as soon as they arrived, Lussuria put on his 'Mama's apron' and made Irie a nice hot cup of hot chocolate, which the eighteen year-old boy gulped down gratefully.

"I'm sorry," Irie apologized. "This is my fault. I went to get Gokudera-san, but he was in the shower and his door was locked, and then by the time I got to Yamamoto's room, Suna was already coming back. If I had been faster… or had gone to someone like Yamamoto…"

"Don't worry about it, Shouichi. It probably would have turned out the same way. But, more importantly, what's the plan now, Shouichi?" Spanner asked. "Here're spare glasses, by the way."

Irie shoved the glasses on and shivered. "Please don't ask me to think right now, Spanner. Any more thinking, and I think my stomach will just disappear from the stress."

Despite himself, Irie found his mind whirling. It would take Suna perhaps fifteen to figure out that he had been tricked—that meant that by now, Suna was probably already on his way back to Vongola headquarters. Of course, he would send his most skilled trackers after Spanner and Irie. Varia headquarters would be a prime target. Next would most likely be Kawahira's house, and then after that, Shimon's hideout…

Irie's eyes widened momentarily. Spanner remained silent, watching his friend think. A small smile crept onto his face. It was always fascinating, seeing the gears turn in Irie's head.

"Shimon's hideout," Irie said presently. "Suna has no knowledge about their location."

"Doesn't he?" Spanner said. "I would have thought they'd have been the first to be tracked down."

"They're too good at hiding," Irie said, shaking his head. "Think about it, Spanner. They hid for centuries without detection. They're masters."

"I'm guessing you know where they are?"

"Yes. They're not too far from here. But, the entire Varia should come along as well."

"Why would we do that?" Squalo snarled from the doorway. "Here. Change of clothes. Lussuria insisted that I bring you some."

"Thank you," Irie said absent-mindedly. His gaze suddenly grew sharp. "You can't stay here because Suna is probably already onto you guys."

Spanner nodded. "That's right. He knew you were in the hamper earlier. This place is where he'll come first. He might leave the rest of the Varia alone, but he'll make sure to end your life for helping us escape."

"Let him try," Squalo snarled.

"Suna is not an opponent you can compete against, Squalo," Irie said sharply. "No one has a chance against him. Not even the Arcobaleno as they are now."

"Then how are we ever going to kill him?"

Irie closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. "We may never be able to."

"Don't give me that crap," Squalo said angrily. "Are you telling me I'm going to live the rest of my life _under that _BRAT'S RULE, _VOIII_?!"

"P-please calm down, Squalo," Irie said, holding up a shaking hand. "Right now, we should only be thinking of how to escape."

"Boss is never going to consent to that sort of plan."

"Make him. Otherwise, he'll die. And knowing the rest of your squad, they'll stay with Xanxus till the end and die as well."

"Then we'll die."

"Is that how you want to die, Squalo?" Irie asked sharply. "You know how it will turn out. You'll stand no chance. You'll die not even a warrior's death. Suna will play with you until you can't scream anymore, and when he's finally tired, he'll kill you. You know that, right?"

Squalo ground his teeth for a moment before whirling on his heel and stomping out. Closing his eyes, Irie took a deep breath.

His eyes snapped open, a sharp glint in the green irises.

"Five minutes. And then let's move. I have a plan. Spanner, can you get King Mosca up in top condition in that time?"

Spanner smiled. "I've always loved a challenge."

* * *

When Gokudera was called into Suna's office, he wasn't sure what to expect. He had just reported in not even an hour ago to relay the information he had gathered on the Cavallone Family and their activities.

He knocked on the door and entered when Suna's voice said 'come in.'

He fought down a smirk at the sight of Suna sporting a good deal of small cuts.

"Ah, Gokudera-kun!" Suna said brightly, standing from his desk. Gokudera's mouth opened, almost saying "Tenth! Good afternoon!"

Six months later, Gokudera still had trouble reminding himself that Suna was not Tsuna.

"You called?" Gokudera said, his tone flat.

"Mhm. I need you and Yamamoto to do a new assignment today."

"Today?" Gokudera said, frowning. "But today is the Tenth's…"

"You still can't accept that I am actually the real Sawada Sunayoshi, Gokudera-kun?" Suna said sadly. "That really… hurts…"

Half of Gokudera wanted to say, "Tenth, please don't make that face!" The other half wanted to spit in Suna's face. But he could never do something like that to someone who looked exactly like Tsuna.

"Well," Suna sighed. "I talked to Irie-kun about that earlier. It was decided that you would all go tomorrow, but I've changed my mind since then. Oh, Yamamoto! Sorry for calling you in so soon."

Yamamoto gave Suna a tight smile.

"This is your new assignment," Suna said, tossing them a file labeled 'assassinare.' "It's a double assassination. Take a look at it and see if you have any questions."

Gokudera opened the file and quickly scanned the contents, Yamamoto peering over his shoulder. The first page was the standard—a bit of background information including the reason why these people were being targeted. This particular case was a betrayal of the Vongola.

Gokudera flipped the page, to where the photos of the targeted would be. He gasped.

"This is—"

Yamamoto looked hard at Suna, who was giving the two of them a soft smile. "Why are we targeting them?"

"Didn't it say in the file?" Suna said innocently. "Betrayal of Vongola."

"These people would never betray the Vongola!" Gokudera snarled. "There's no way we'll kill them."

"I'm sorry?"

Gokudera opened his mouth furiously, but Yamamoto gripped his arm tightly.

"May we ask what they did specifically?" Yamamoto asked coolly.

Suna traced his fingers over the cuts on his face. "Collaboration and conspiracy against the Tenth—myself. Unauthorized communication between themselves. Damage to the headquarters and assault on the tenth boss of Vongola. Hypothesized spy work and collaboration with Vongola's enemy family, the Cavallone. Should I go on?"

Yamamoto and Gokudera had both turned white.

"And I really hope that the two of you knew nothing about these activities," Suna said softly. "I would feel so hurt…"

"I don't care _what_ you say," Gokudera said when he had finally found his voice again. "I am not carrying out this assignment." Yamamoto nodded in agreement.

Suna smiled. "Are you sure, Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto? You can leave, then."

Gokudera and Yamamoto bowed quickly and turned to leave the room. Just as Gokudera's hand closed onto the doorknob, Suna chuckled softly.

"By the way, Gokudera-kun… mom wanted me to tell you that she's thankful that you take such good care of me these days."

Gokudera stiffened.

"She wants to cook you dinner sometime and says you should come visit…"

Gokudera's hand tightened on the doorknob. "Tell her—tell her I would be honored."

"But I wonder… how can she make you dinner if she happens to land herself in the hospital?"

Yamamoto could her the doorknob break. In a fury, Gokudera whirled around.

"You bastard!"

"It would be so tragic if mom suddenly… had a little accident…" Suna said, looking down. He sounded genuinely worried, but that just made it all the more sickening. "What if she got attacked by thieves who broke into her home?"

"Don't you _dare_—"

"Calm down, Gokudera," Yamamoto said, putting his hand on Gokudera's shoulder. Gokudera threw it off and glared at the taller man.

"If you think I'm just going to take this standing down—"

Yamamoto's eyes slid from Suna to Gokudera. So furious and cold was his gaze that Gokudera halted mid-sentence. He'd never seen Yamamoto so…

Murderous.

"And Yamamoto… I'm sorry to hear about your father… the same thing happened to him, didn't it?"

Suna looked very sorry indeed. Yamamoto's jaw clenched so hard Gokudera was surprised that his teeth weren't shattering.

"I heard he's on life support now… Wouldn't it be terrible if the plug were pulled by accident? Say, a nurse tripped on it somehow…"

"Enough," Yamamoto said coldly. "We'll do it. Just leave them alone."

"Thank you! I'm really grateful," Suna said, beaming. He held the file out to Yamamoto, who walked forward and gripped it in his hand.

"If you lay one finger on either of them," Yamamoto said softly, staring directly into Suna's eyes, "_I will kill you myself_."

"Scary, Yamamoto!"

Suna's frightened voice did not match the laughter in his eyes.

"Let's go, Gokudera."

"A-ah…"

As soon as they were out the door and out of earshot, Yamamoto slammed his fist into the wall. His expression was hidden; his head was bowed, and his hair hid his eyes, but Gokudera could tell from the anger radiating off Yamamoto's body what sort of face Yamamoto was making.

"What's wrong with you, baseball-freak?"

"What's wrong? Gokudera, that guy has everyone's lives in the palm of his hand. I'm surprised _you_ haven't blown yet! We all thought you'd have been the first to snap."

Yamamoto's fist tightened until Gokudera thought the skin on his knuckles would split.

"I can't stand it. That guy pretending that he's Tsuna. Even Tsuna's mom can't tell that he's a fake. And we can't lift a finger, or she'll die. My dad will die. Bianchi and the rest of your family will die; Lambo will die, just because he's too young to go assassinating people. Go get your stuff together," Yamamoto said before Gokudera could respond. "Take a nap or something. We'll leave in a couple of hours and then make plans."

And like that, Yamamoto left.

* * *

"I'm home, I-Pin," Kawahira called out. "Is there any ramen?"

There was no answer.

The hair on the back of Kawahira's neck prickled. Something was wrong; he could feel it.

"I-Pin?" he tried again. He slipped on his hell ring and hid his presence with an illusion.

"Maybe she's just out… or sleeping…"

But his intuition told him otherwise. Entering further into his house, his suspicions were confirmed. Signs of battle were everywhere: bloodstains on the damaged walls, bullet holes, guns on the floor…

But if I-Pin had been taken, she had put up a good fight. Kawahira was beginning to find bodies now, all wearing black suits and the Vongola crest. So Suna had found out about Kawahira's secret activities after all.

Kawahira let out a soft "che" and moved on. No matter. Even if I-Pin had been taken or killed, Kawahira's main priority was to make sure he still met with _that_ child.

He entered the kitchen. A pot filled with bloated ramen noodles was still boiling on the burner. A meat cleaver was stuck deep into the wall behind the stove, covered with blood splatters. There were bodies on the floor and a single, feminine form slumped across the table.

"I-Pin!"

Kawahira rushed forward, blind to everything but the motionless young girl. Just as his hand was about to reach her shoulder, he realized that mist flames were beginning to seep out of her body.

"Shoot!"

Kawahira leaped back just as the scene dissolved before him. Kawahira cursed himself for being off-guard. Attachment to anything was never any good.

"Now then, Kawahira-san," a silky voice said. Reality came to life and Kawahira found himself staring at I-Pin bound to a chair with a knife to her throat. "Unless you want this child to die, tell me just exactly who you were going to meet with tonight. You do know who I am, correct?"

Kawahira gritted his teeth. He hadn't expected this.

"Rokudo Mukuro."

Mukuro smiled.

"What are you doing here?" Kawahira said as calmly as he could. "No one's seen you or Chrome Dokuro for months."

Oya, oya, Kawahira-san," Mukuro said, "Who's asking who questions?"

"Considering the situation and the bodies in this house, I'm assuming you're working for Suna, aren't you?" Kawahira pressed on.

"_Working_ for…? Kawahira-san, I am insulted_. I work for no one but myself_, don't you see?"

Something about that smile and Mukuro's words nudged Kawahira's mind, sending alarms off. He couldn't put his finger on what was so wrong…

Then it clicked.

"Ah…" Kawahira murmured. "I see now… but of course, who else?"

"Now, now, Kawahira-san, don't get the _wrong ideas_ here," Mukuro said. "You still have yet to answer my question. _Who is the child you are going to meet tonight?"_

Mukuro's hand pressed the knife hard against I-Pin's neck until a thin trickle of blood began traveling down her throat.

Kawahira stared coolly at the man, seemingly untouched by the current situation.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that, Rokudo Mukuro," Kawahira said. "Otherwise, it really might be the end for everyone, don't you think?"

"You really don't care if I kill this child?"

Kawahira's glasses flashed. "I don't need to."

In an instant, I-Pin whirled around on the chair and slammed her foot into Mukuro's face, sending him flying back. The ropes were loose around her wrists and gone from her ankles; Fon must have taught her a trick or two about escaping from ropes.

"You're up against a master illusionist, if you don't mind me saying it myself," Kawahira said, displaying his hell ring. "Your illusions are not going to work here."

Mukuro laughed, holding a hand to his cheek as he stood slowly from the floor. "My, my, this was unprecedented… It seems that I am in a bad position now… No matter. I _will_ get it out of you sooner or later, Kawahira-san."

Mukuro began to dissolve, turning into nothing but indigo mist.

"Who you are meeting tonight… what you are planning… I will find everything out."

And he was gone.

Kawahira tsked, turning on his heel. "I-Pin, get ready; we have to leave immediately."

"Where are we going?"

Kawahira paused. He bowed his head in thought, weighing his options.

No matter what he had found out, first things came first. The Vongola wouldn't all die in the span of a few hours.

"We're going to see that child."

* * *

_Oh gosh, I had an awful dream a few nights ago that I got this massive 5000 word long flame on this story and I didn't know what to do LOL. That was rather… laskdjfioawhgqpwoieu. So, I rewrote this chapter like 10 billion times until I didn't know what to do anymore… stupid dream :(_

_Yes, anyways, thanks for the support all of you! To those who find the story confusing, it will all clear up very, very soon. Starting from next chapter, how Tsuna died will be revealed!_

_A few questions for you guys: would you like longer or shorter chapters? I always feel like I might be writing too much, so I tend to cut some things out of the chapters as I revise. Are there any things you would like to see improve?_

_I hope this chapter was alright! Thanks for reading :)_

**_Anon reply:_**

**_Erdbeere_**_: thanks so much for your review! And I fixed the misspellings of Shouichi's name; thanks so much for pointing that out XD Hehe, nice guesses~ you'll find out the truth later~  
And I'm glad you like the OCs in Estrella di Fenice! I worried so much about them; I even started rewriting the whole story to rework their characters a bit.  
Thanks again! :)_


	3. Chapter 3

**_Anon replies:_**

**_No one:_**_ I'm sorry you find it confusing! Hopefully, this chapter will clear things up a bit! And nope, Suna did not threaten people into killing Tsuna; I don't think that would ever work XD_

* * *

"Suna-sama, if we continue to inject Hibari Kyouya with the paralyzing substance at this increasing rate, he is going to die."

Suna smiled. He looked at the motionless Cloud Guardian, who was slumped against the wall of his white cell, through the single, six-inch thick glass window. The prison had been built especially for the pugnacious man; Suna had tested it out himself. Not even the X Burner—a skill he stole from Tsunayoshi himself—had been able to blast a hole into it.

"Increasing rate, you say?"

Cervello nodded. "Yes. Hibari Kyouya is known for his amazing resilience. After the first injection, we came down and found him already trying to break his way out of the cell."

"And that was… four months ago, wasn't it?"

"Yes. Since then, we have had to increase the amount of paralyzing substance in order to ensure that Hibari Kyouya will remain sedated. However, at this rate, he will die."

"Turn on the speakers," Suna ordered. The Cervello hurried to obey. Once the microphones had been turned on, Suna spoke to Hibari.

"Hibari-san… can you hear me? It's Suna."

The only response he got was the sound of labored breathing.

"I'm so sorry, Hibari-san. I didn't want to have to do this, but it was the only way… you refused to cooperate anyways."

Of course, Hibari didn't respond. He couldn't. Suna knew, and he was having fun.

"It took me two months to track you down… you're such an enigma, don't you know that, Hibari-san? Just who are you? Where did you come from? Where is your family? No matter how much I search, I can never find anything about you other than your school record."

Suna walked forward and placed a hand on the window.

"Hibari-san, do you even have a family? Or were you born from the foundations of Namimori High? Did you know? Namimori was built approximately around the time you were born, nineteen years ago. It makes me wonder… your ineffable love for Namimori, especially the school… Perhaps you're not even human…

"Of course, I'm just speaking nonsense," Suna chuckled. "Of course you're human, even if you have superhuman abilities. I lied when I said I couldn't find anything on you. Hibari Kyouya, the only child of a kind couple who had lived in Namimori Town all their lives.

"One night, when Hibari Kyouya was six years old, a serial killer living in the town at the time broke into his house and murdered his parents. Luckily for him, his mother managed to call the police in time before she died, and little Hibari was saved. After that, Hibari was moved to the Namimori Orphanage and remained there until he was eleven years old; then he ran away and began supporting himself.

"Because of the nature of his parents' deaths, Hibari grew to be a cold-hearted child who enforced discipline everywhere he went. He had but a single thought: if discipline had been enforced strictly, his parents wouldn't have died the death they had.

"He grew to love fighting. Soon enough, discipline was not only a way to deal with his parents' deaths but also an excuse to simply pick fights. You fought for your parents, but you fought more to keep yourself entertained. A battle-holic. Am I right, Hibari-san?"

Suna smiled, brown eyes twinkling warmly in the artificial lighting.

"You posed such a problem to me, Hibari-san. You don't have anyone you care about. Your only blood-related family is dead; you couldn't care less about the Vongola. I can't make you work for me like I can with the others. I could let you go, but I know that our paths would intersect once again in the future, and that would cause me a great deal of trouble. I could let you go, but I know you will try to kill me.

"Do you know why I know that?" Suna whispered, brushing the glass window with his fingers. "It's because I am _strong._ And I tricked you. That in itself is reason enough for you to tear out my throat.

"I tricked you into killing Sawada Tsunayoshi. One of the few men you wanted to 'bite to death.' One of the few men you might care about, but you would never admit to caring about him, would you? And Sawada didn't even put up a fight, did he?"

Suna chuckled and turned away from the window.

"It's so sad, isn't it? How such a strong man such as yourself can be rendered helpless by a simple poison… even when you had conquered the Death Hitter way back during the Ring Battles so easily…"

There was an enormous crash, and the Cervello shrieked. Suna smiled and turned back to face the window. Sweating and panting heavily, Hibari stood with his arms against the window where he had slammed them.

His grey eyes were hazy with pain and his hair drenched in sweat. One look at him would let anyone know that this was a man who had been kept on the brink of death for far too long. Skin sallow and lips pale, Hibari looked weak, but not for a moment did he look vulnerable.

"Don't think… for a moment," Hibari hissed, "that you have tied me down…"

"Truly impressive," Suna whispered. "How far can I push you until you break, I wonder? Really, Hibari Kyouya, you know no bounds."

"I will never be… broken," Hibari snarled. "No matter what you… do to me… or how much you… know about me… No matter… what… I… will _bite you to death._"

Suna brought his face close to the glass, placing his hands on the window just where Hibari's were. He could see Hibari's irregular breaths fogging up the window, could see how much pain he was in.

He loved it.

Suna looked deep into Hibari's grey eyes, separated from the Cloud Guardian by a mere six inches of bullet-proof glass.

"I look forward to it."

And then he was gone.

Hibari felt his consciousness leaving him. It had taken all that was in him to get up, move, and slam his fists against the glass. His eyes fluttered, and he slumped to his knees, leaning heavily on his arms against the glass. He hated the weakness he was showing. He hated the restriction on his movement.

He hated the man they called Sawada Sunayoshi; the man who had taken the freedom he held as a cloud of the sky.

Memories came rushing back into his mind as his consciousness drifted off.

_This again_… he thought lazily. _How many times…_

Sleeping gas flooded Hibari's prison, and he left the realm of the awake.

* * *

"The Ninth is dead."

It had all begun with that short, simple, yet devastating statement. Reborn, now an adult, the Arcobaleno curse having long been broken, had called all of the Vongola guardians into the reception room of Namimori High School.

He had said he didn't know what was going on either. Reborn had only gotten a call from a mysterious 'someone' who in turn had received a message from a strange 'child.' They were all to meet in one place, where no one could overhear them.

When Tsuna and the others had first entered, they were met by the sight of strangely familiar white hair. Tsuna was the first to recognize the glasses-wearing man, who stood bathed in the sunlight of the mid-morning sun.

"Kawahira-san!"

Kawahira, looking no different from his future self, nodded grimly, light bouncing off his lenses.

"Will you take a seat?"

Hesitantly, Tsuna cast a glance at Reborn, who had arrived first. Reborn nodded, face dark. He never had gotten over his strange suspicion about Kawahira after all.

"Why did you call us together?" Reborn asked, voice calm, but intentions apparent. Everyone was seated; Hibari, Reborn could tell, was just above them, sun-bathing on the rooftop.

Kawahira looked from face to face with a calm, bored expression, then finally turned away to the window.

"The Ninth is dead."

No one spoke for a few moments. Then, an enormous clamor broke out.

"What do you mean the Ninth is dead?"

"You bastard, how do you know?"

"We didn't hear anything about this!"

"How could he be… dead?" Tsuna asked, shocked. "The Ninth, dead? No way, that can't be… right, Reborn?"

Reborn was the only person who had remained silent. He watched Kawahira with expressionless, calculating eyes.

"If he's lying, we'll just blow his brains out," he said.

"My, my, those words again, Reborn?"

Tsuna remembered that those had been the words Reborn had said in the future when they had first met Kawahira.

"I just spoke to the Ninth over the phone just twenty minutes ago," Reborn said quietly. "As soon as I received your message, I checked in with him to see if it was alright to meet with you. Are you telling me that in those twenty minutes, the Ninth died, and you were immediately informed?"

Kawahira sighed. "Always the troublesome one, aren't you, Reborn? No matter what world we're in…"

"What do you mean 'no matter what world we're in'?" Reborn asked sharply.

Kawahira tsked. "It's of no matter."

He found himself staring down the barrel of Reborn's handgun.

"Answer my question."

"I will not."

"R-Reborn, please," Tsuna stuttered. "I think it's more important that we know what happened to the Ninth first."

Reborn tsked, but put away his gun.

"Thank you, Sawada Tsunayoshi. Now then, the Ninth is not dead yet—"

"Then why the hell—" Gokudera snarled

"But I think that within the hour, you will get a call from Cavallone Dino saying just what I have said: The Ninth is dead."

"How do you know this?" Tsuna asked.

Kawahira gave him a bored look before pulling out a paperclipped stack of papers from within his yukata.

"Date of death," he recited as he handed it over to Reborn, "October 1, 20XX. Full name of deceased: Timoteo…"

"Enough," Reborn said. "I can read. Where did you get this? This is a death certificate, but the Ninth is clearly not dead."

"That was sent to me this morning, at approximately 5 A.M. No address, no sender, nothing but a blank envelope that was shot through my window."

"Why are you contacting us? Why not the headquarters?"

Kawahira sighed impatiently. "Of course I called headquarters. No one picked up. Fearing the worst, I called Varia to let them know, and that man called—called Laura—Lucy?"

"Lussuria."

"Yes, that was his name. Lussuria, he said they would rush on over. Just in case, I also called the Cavallone family. I was lucky enough to catch them; Cavallone Dino was just about to board a flight for Japan."

"I called again at six with the same result. Cavallone's phone was out of service. Once more, I telephoned at nine. This time, Cavallone answered the call. He sounded…"

"He sounded?" Reborn prompted.

Kawahira's eyes, cold and calculating, slid to Tsuna's face. Very carefully and in a measured tone, he said, "He sounded very… shocked."

Something in Kawahira's tone and in his gaze left those words hanging very icily in the air.

"I don't understand this," Reborn said. "I clearly called twenty five minutes ago. The Ninth answered. There was nothing wrong."

"That's what you think," Kawahira said. "But these days, the level of illusions has risen so much… they don't fool only human eyes, but cameras and microphones as well…"

"That's what the future Squalo said," Yamamoto said, frowning. "And that's how Genkishi managed to fool everyone."

"So, you're telling me to believe that someone tricked me into hearing the Ninth's voice?" Reborn said flatly.

"I didn't _tell_ you to _believe_ anything. I am simply here to tell you what I know. Shall I continue?"

"Please," Tsuna said before Reborn could retort. "Please, go on."

"There was… much noise in the background," Kawahira said. "A lot of screaming… sounds of battle… I asked Cavallone what was going on… he couldn't answer. It may be presumptuous of me, but I would say that he was… crying."

"Crying?" Tsuna said. "Dino-san, crying? Why would he be—"

"He said only one thing…" Kawahira cut in softly. "Do you know what that could be?"

"Why don't you just get to the point instead of being all mysterious about it," Reborn said curtly.

"'Tsuna… is killing everyone.'"

"What?"

Kawahira fixed his eyes on Tsuna, whose face had turned paper-white.

"What could that mean?" he said. "Sawada Tsunayoshi, what could that mean?"

Gokudera slammed his fist on the table. "Get out of here, you white-haired freak. You're telling me that you think the Tenth is over in Italy killing everyone? He's right here! You're a lunatic; get out!"

"For the second time, I'm not _telling_ you anything," Kawahira said. His eyes didn't move from Tsuna's face. "I'm simply telling you what I know."

"Maybe Dino was seeing an illusion," Reborn said. "Just like how I heard one."

"Or maybe he wasn't," Kawahira said. "Maybe you are all being fooled right now…"

Tsuna was trembling. Yamamoto laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, looking straight at Kawahira with a cool gaze.

"We don't know what you're talking about, but Tsuna would never do something like that. Besides, he's right here, isn't he?"

"Tenth, don't listen to this freak," Gokudera said harshly. "He just wants to—wants to shake your nerves. He has something up his sleeve, I just know it."

"Don't worry, Sawada, we trust you," Ryohei said.

"And what do you have to say about all this, Sawada Tsunayoshi?" Kawahira said. Gokudera snarled at him, telling him to lay off, but Kawahira didn't back off a bit. He stepped closer, despite Reborn's cocked gun and despite the fact that Yamamoto's hand was playing with his Vongola-gear necklace.

"M-me… killing everyone?" Tsuna stumbled over his words. "I can't… why would I…?"

"Why would you indeed?" Kawahira murmured. Now, he was right in front of Tsuna, looking down at him with the sharpest, most intense gaze that any of them had ever seen. "Why is Sawada Tsunayoshi, who should be in Italy right now, here, in Namimori?"

"Enough," Yamamoto said sharply. The air around his hand flickered, and a katana appeared in his hand. "That's enough."

"How dare you accuse the Tenth of something so ridiculous!"

Ryohei cracked his knuckles. "Go away, ramen-head!"

Ignoring everyone, Kawahira knelt down before Tsuna. He raised his hand to Tsuna's face.

"If you touch him—"

"Just one finger, and I'll—"

Kawahira's finger pressed against Tsuna's forehead. The hell ring on his finger flared up in indigo flames.

And then Tsuna was no more.

What remained was a skeleton.

Gokudera screamed as the skeleton slowly bent forward, as if held up by some invisible force, and then clattered to the ground. Yamamoto grabbed Kawahira by the front of his yukata and slammed him against the floor, sword pressed up against the man's neck.

"What did you do to Tsuna?" Yamamoto breathed. "What?"

"You've become quite the fearsome Mafioso, haven't you, Yamamoto Takeshi," Kawahira said, as if commenting on the weather. "Quite different from the cheerful, lax boy I saw in the future."

"I'm sick of the chatter," Reborn said. "Chaos, right? Chaos you wanted, and chaos you got. Where is Tsuna?"

"On the contrary, Reborn, I wanted no chaos at all."

"Where is the Tenth?" Gokudera snarled. He shoved Yamamoto off Kawahira and grabbed the man himself. "What the _hell_ did you do to him?"

"I did nothing. I simply lifted the illusion on that poor skeleton there."

"Why is that skeleton here? Where is the Tenth?" Gokudera shouted. He shook Kawahira, who maintained a calm look on his face. "Whose skeleton is that? It's not—it can't be—"

"It's not Sawada Tsunayoshi's, if that's what you're thinking," Kawahira said. "Actually, I think you might find that it is your mother's."

"What the fu—"

An angry tone began playing in the air. It was Gokudera's cell phone, which he had forgotten to switch off.

"Answer it," Reborn ordered. Snarling, Gokudera reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

"Hello?"

"Put it on speaker."

He switched it on. Bianchi's panicked voice filled the air.

"_Hayato_!"

"S-sis?"

"_I can't believe it! I just got a call from the cemetery—they said someone dug up Lavina's grave! Father is devastated, he can't—"_

"What did you say?" Gokudera gasped.

_"Someone dug it up! Someone dug up Lavina—your mother's grave!"_

The phone dropped from Gokudera's hand with a clatter. He stumbled back, sitting heavily. His face had gone pale, white as a sheet.

"What the _hell_ is going on?"

"Calm down, Gokudera," Yamamoto tried to say. "There's no—we can't confirm it. There's no proof."

"M-mom?" Gokudera whispered. He reached toward the skeleton, whose grinning face was turn toward him. "This is… mom's?"

Another phone began to ring. This time it was Reborn's.

Keeping his gaze fixed on Kawahira, he answered.

"Hello?"

_"Reborn…"_

"Dino? What's wrong? What's happening?"

"_Reborn, I… I can't… I…"_

"Get a grip on yourself!" Reborn barked. Everyone's eyes were on him. "What's going on?"

_"Tsuna… Tsuna…"_

"What about Tsuna?"

_"He killed… the Ninth."_

* * *

"No!"

Gokudera shot up in his seat. People were staring at him. He took a deep breath and wiped the sweat off his face.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he said shortly. "Fine."

Yamamoto gave him a pat on the shoulder and smiled. "I get it. You had that dream—"

"Don't." Gokudera breathed out. "Don't mention that again."

"Alright, alright," Yamamoto said lightly. He turned his face to the window. "We're almost there, huh?"

They were on the bus, headed for Kawahira's house. Suna had given them orders they were to follow: first Kawahira's house, then Tsuna's home, the Varia, and lastly Cavallone's house. Trackers and recorders were placed all over their bodies, but with the help of one of Spanner and Irie's devices, Gokudera and Yamamoto had disabled them and could talk freely.

"I never imagined we would come here again," Yamamoto said quietly as they got off the bus. "This shop…"

The shop was exactly the same as it had been in the future. 'Kawahira Realtors' read the identical letters at the front.

"What are we going to do once we find Irie and Spanner?" Yamamoto asked as the two of the unceremoniously entered the shop.

"I'll blow you up a bit, and you slice me up," Gokudera said. "We'll return to base and say they put up a fight and escaped."

"Sounds like a good plan," Yamamoto laughed. "We'll go at each other with all we've got, right?"

Gokudera grunted.

"Look at this."

Yamamoto was pointing at a small stain on the wall.

"Blood?" Gokudera muttered, taking a closer look. "Was there a fight?"

They climbed the stairs, to the floor where the house actually started. The further they went into the home, the messier it got. Everything was strewn about, and there was blood covering the walls, floors, windows…

"Hey… Gokudera, come here…"

Tearing his eyes away from a Vongola-crested button lying on the floor, Gokudera hurried to the kitchen, where Yamamoto was.

Yamamoto was leafing through a pile of papers that was on the table, a frown on his face.

"These look like…"

"Hand them over."

Gokudera took the papers from Yamamoto and quickly scanned through them.

"These are letters? 'Dear Kawahira-san, I hope this letter finds you well. I ran across some documents the other day and thought you would find them useful…'"

"Look at the send date," Yamamoto said.

"September 30th, 20XX? That's the day before…"

"Before Kawahira came to us, right?"

Gokudera flipped through the letters frantically. "What… 'Dear Kawahira-san, did the documents come in handy? I would assume so, since the Vongola are throwing fits. Love, Sandy Child.' What the hell is this? 'You have to do exactly as I say from now on, understand? In exactly two days' time, bring the Tenth boss and his guardians to Italy. Love, Sandy Child.' This guy…!"

"October 1st…"

"'Dear Kawahira-san, thank you for bringing the Vongola here. Everything is going just as planned. You'll hear from me again… love, Sandy.' October 4th. 'Tomorrow—or rather, when you get this, tomorrow will be today—is the day. Isn't this fun? Thank you for your help, Kawahira-san!'"

Gokudear slammed his fists on the table, the wood cracking under the impact. "This guy was working along with Suna the whole time!"

"Now, now, Gokudera, we don't know that—"

"Don't give me that crap!" Gokudera spat. "These letters—look! Signed, every single one of them, from 'Sandy,' in English. Don't you get it? Suna—Sandy. Suna is sand in English!"

"But then…" Yamamoto said, struggling to comprehend, "Why did he always come to base?"

"Are you stupid?!" Gokudera fumed. "Of course he was always staying in touch with Suna!"

"But then, all those times he warned us…"

"Were just part of his plans! Don't you see? Can't you read? 'Everything's going just as planned.' 'Today is the day.' '_Thank you for your help, Kawahira-san.'_"

"I can't believe this…"

"Believe it or not, it's the truth!" Gokudera snarled. "This guy—he's just been pulling us along at the end of his chain. From day one—he came to us saying the Ninth was dead—then the Ninth died… The way he knew that the Tenth was just an illusion! And how else would he have known that the skeleton was my mother's? And afterwards, he took us to Italy, where it all started… The day Irie and Spanner were run out of the base, he had come, too! Even before this, Reborn-san had had his suspicions…"

Growling, Gokudera stuffed the letters in his pockets and stormed down the stairs.

"W-Wait! Gokudera, where are you going?"

"What do you mean, where am I going?" Gokudera said, puffing on a new cigarette. "I'm going to track down Kawahira and beat the truth out of him. Come out, Uri."

The air beside his feet shimmered and a Labrador-sized cat appeared at Gokudera's side.

"I've no time to play with you," Gokudera said, seeing Uri's claws extend. "You remember Kawahira? I want you to track him down. This once, Uri, just do as I ask."

Uri stared at Gokudera long and hard. Then, the great cat turned and slinked down the road.

"What about Irie and Spanner?" Yamamoto said, hurrying after the two.

"This is more important," Gokudera said. "Don't you think?"

Without another word, the two humans followed the cat without a moment's hesitation.

* * *

_Was it Squalo or Genkishi who said that about illusions? I can't remember, and I don't have the time to go rifling through all the chapters, as much as I would like to._

_I hope it was alright~ Sorry for grammar/OOCness/crappiness :( Have a nice day, everyone!_


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